In the midst of the Transatlantic Seaway Music Collaborative’s slam-dunk trip to the New Hampshire Highland Games, John Wallace, principal of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, graciously answered a few questions about his own career.
(He left out the part about performing at Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s wedding.)
Before I share more music (see video!), I thought you should know something about the context of the Transatlantic Seaway Music Collaboration’s smashing debut: the New Hampshire Highland Games.
No time and no internet to blog from this weekend’s New Hampshire Highland Games—so without further delay, here’s the conclusion of the Transatlantic Seaway Music Collaboration’s Saturday-afternoon set at the Octagon Lodge. This performance is awesome and I would say that even if I weren’t on the Berklee payroll. You should really, really watch it. Kicks into high gear at 1:05.
18 musicians! Visible are Isbel Pendelbury, clarsach; Finlay MacDonald, whistles; Hamish Napier, flute and feet; James MacKenzie, flute; Ainsley Hamill, voice; Hannah Read, Duncan Wickel, Trent Freeman, fiddle; Eric Robertson, mandolin; Courtney Hartman, guitar; Lucas Pool, banjo; and Monica de Vitry, cello. Read more about the collaboration (and more to come).
Berklee alumna Maureen McMullan, part of the Transatlantic Seaway Music Collaboration, performs at Berklee's Don Was tribute in 2009 (admittedly not a very Celtic event). Photo copyright Phil Farnsworth.
According to the color-coded schedule I got from Larry Bethune, VP for student affairs/dean of students, the two dozen? members of the Transatlantic Seaway Music Collaboration have just arrived at Loon Mountain for the New Hampshire Highland Games. It’s the debut of a collaboration between Berklee, the University of Strathclyde, and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, with support from Glasgow UNESCO City of Music.
The team includes:
6 Fiddle 4 Guitars 2 Pipes 2 Whistle
2 Clarsach 1 Banjo 1 Mandolin
2 Vocals 1 Keyboards 1 Accordion
1 Cello 1 Semi-bodhran
2 Multi-instrumentalists
That has got to be one loud bus.
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